The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is the benchmark by which many luxury sedans are measured. For decades, now, it has been the proverbial gold standard. While by no means the best car ever made, it does fulfill its duties as a luxury conveyance with impressive consistency. But that doesn’t mean it can’t occasionally let its hair down and have some fun as this 1972 Mercedes-Benz 250 project listed here on eBay goes to show us. This is not a factory color, sadly, but I don’t think I’d change it just to appease the perfectionists.
Mercedes did sell the W114/W115 in a shade of green but it was far darker in tone; in fact, it was called Moss Green, and it looked like the forest floor. This is a much livelier shade of green and it seems fitting for a car from the 1970s. It’s impossible to judge the quality from here, but it does say something that the seller has chosen to keep it in the garage. If it were properly refurbished and riding on some attractive and period-correct wheels, it might actually look quite smashing. The chrome bumpers help, and some European-market headlight lenses would be the cherry on top.
While this isn’t quite an E-Class, it is the predecessor, in many ways. It was offered mostly as a sedan, but a handsome pillar-less coupe was also offered. Either configuration is generally available for very reasonable sums today, and the seller is actually including a spare parts car with the sale of this one. At present, the seller is asking $9,500 or best offer, but that seems ambitious – even for two cars. The fact that the bright green paint extends inside the door jambs is encouraging, especially if it means the work was done to a decent quality. It pairs nicely with the black interior.
It doesn’t run at present, but a spare engine and transmission are also included, along with the parts car. Engines were generally inline-six gas units, with the occasional diesel sprinkled in. The six-cylinder generally made around 130 b.h.p. and 147 lb.-ft. of torque, which won’t set your hair on fire. This is a cruiser, for sure, but one that will be pretty easy to live with once it’s running again. The seller may need to reduce his asking slightly to make it compelling for an enthusiast to feel good about dragging this green machine home along with the spare parts and car carcass.
Before you get started fixing it, it will need a 6 to 8k paint job to fix the clown car paint. It would have to be real cheap!
Hmmm, I’m just the opposite, make sure that the brakes work correctly, check the steering/suspension, make sure that it has good tires, then get the engine running as it should. Oh, the paint, Who cares, it does everything else perfectly.
Uh, yes, metallic iridescent green is NOT a Mercedes color…..
It’s not easy being green…
30 years ago, I had one of this style. It was a 75 300D. It was a tank! I paid $500 for it, found and installed a junkyard interior for $75 in great shape, drove it for a year and sold it for $1500. I wish it was a stick, but automatics were all they offered in the US! I would have kept it longer if a manual. I will pass on $9500. $950 is more like it with the ‘Kermit’ paint job!!
Love the color personally. I would bag it and throw some nice rims and tires on it, crank up a good sound system, and cruise that thing.
In the early 90s, I bought a 1972 250 S from a guy in Richmond, VA. Brown repaint that shined. $1500 and towed it home to Chapel Hill. Discovered it had a lot more rust in the left front fender, covered by pretty paint, that I had to remediate (and did so badly, among my early efforts at body work). The towing (with driveshaft attached unfortunately) did some damage to the transmission and I had to replace it ($150…those were the days). I also had to replace the heater/AC fan, one of the worst jobs I’ve ever attempted. A GM fan was $35 and a snap to replace. The MB fan was $225 in 1990s money and I had to remove the entire dashboard to replace it. The only job rivaling it for PITA IMO was an MGB brake master (well, replacing a B clutch meant removing the engine and tranny, not for sissies but not that bad). At least the Healeys and TRs had a removable tunnel and you got the tranny from above.
Back to the MB, it had 2 big 4BBl carbs and had all sorts of power from the straight 6. Very comfortable driving car with the tightest steering radius of any car I ever owned. The seats were like a living room chair as I recall. The biggest problem for me was the price of parts.
These were built like a bank vault (family had a second hand 230S with a 4 speed) IF they didn’t rust. (that is a big IF)
Became a money pit when the rings wore out and then electrical glitch had us buying parts from the local dealer.
When a family friend master mechanic went with Dad to the parts store (this was 1980) and was told the ring set was “$60 per hole” I remember the look on his face!
Seemed like it might be a good candidate platform for a 5.0 Mustang drivetrain swap.
That green looks apropros on it!
I worked in an imported auto parts store (remember those?) in Vermont, in the early 80s, and delivered parts to the local gas stations and repair outlets in one of these, which was the boss’s personal car. Easily one of the best perks of that job.
I asked my West German friend why he held M-B in disdain (he was into hot Opels), he responded, “They make good taxi cabs.”
IMO this would be a pretty fair deal if he eliminated the zeros.
I like the color of this sedan I’m not sure what all the hopla is about.
Get it running properly and enjoy this rare gem! 🤗
Dragging a car carcass!. Good write up Jeff! The father of a fellow student in the University had a similar M-B with a similar color that at the time i also found it unappealing. He owned a business of selling used cars, so maybe he repainted it himself or someone from the staff!